Thread separating pneumatic thread holder and remover



R. G. TURNER Oct. 10, 1944.

THREAD SEPARATING PNEUMATIC THREAD HOLDER AND REMOVER Filed April 1;1944 INVEN OR P/C'HARD (5 TURNER By nw f AT ORNEY Patented Oct. 10, 1944THREAD SEPARATING PNEUMATIC THREAD HOLDER AND REMOVER Richard G. Turner,Worcester, Mass, assignor to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester,Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 1, 1944, SerialNo. 529,145

18 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in pneumatic thread holders forweft replenishing looms and it is the general object of the invention toprovide means by which the waste ends of tWo different types of threadsmay be kept separated for the purpose of simplifying reclamation.

In the weaving of certain fabrics it is customary to use two distinctivetypes of weft, such as rayon, and coarse cotton or woolen yarn. In theinterest of economywaste threads which accumulate incident to theweaving operation are saved, but in thread control mechanisms asheretofore made all of the threads have been gathered together and it isa difficult matter to separate them according to their different types.

I have heretofore proposed a penumatic thread holder and thread removerfor the weft ends of reserve bobbins held in the magazine of a weftreplenishing loom. It is an important object of the present invention toprovide a penumatic thread holder for each type of thread and collectthe threads in different compartments. In this way the proces ofreclaiming the waste threads is simplified and the previously employedstep of separating the threads by hand is eliminated.

Thread holders of the type to which my invention more particularlyrelates have intake months into which a column of air is moved due tothe existence of subatmospheric pressures within the holders. Because ofthis condition there is likelihood that the different types of threadsmay be drawn into the wrong mouths unless provision is made to keep themseparated so that each type of thread will go into its own intake mouth.It is a further object of my present invention to provide a threadholder having multiple intake months in conjunction with a separatorwhich will prevent the stream of air moving into one of the intakemouths from attracting threads intended for the other intake mouth.

It'is necessary to be able to adjust the location of the intake mouthscorrectly with respect to the loom lay and magazine in order not only tofacilitate partial threading of the shuttle on the first pick aftertransfer but also effect quick removal of the thread whenit is cut atthe selvage. It is another object of my invention to construct thethread holders of rigid tubes clamped together and one of which isdirectly supported by and mounted for angular adjustment on a threadaccumulator and the other of which is connected to the accumulator by aflexible tube such as hose. In this way a single adjustment for one ofthe rigid tubes suffices to place both of the intake mouths in correctposition. when two thread removers are used.

It is still another object of my present invention to provide a threadaccumulator having two or more compartments separated from each other bya Wall or the like having a screen which permits pneumatic communicationbetween the compartments but prevents passage of threads from onecompartment to the other. The accumulator also has a door which whenopened affords access to the thread compartments in the accumulator.

With these and other objects in View which will appear as thedescription proceeds, my invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawing wherein a convenient embodiment of myinvention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is a partial front elevation of a weft replenishing loom havingmy invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1 and lookingin the direction of arrow 2 of that figure,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevation of the pipe hold ing claim adjacent tothe thread accumulator as shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section on line Ll- 'i, Fig. 1 andshowing the clamp set forth in Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation of the thread separator shown inthe upper part of Fig. 1, V

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 5,

Fig. 7 is an enlarged front elevation of the connection between thethread separator and the support for the magazine, looking in thedirection of arrow 1, Fig. 1,

Fig. 8 is an end elevation looking in the direction of arrow 8, Fig. 7,and

Fig. 9 is a vertical section through the thread accumulator taken online 9-9, Fig. 2.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown a loom frame Ithaving a lay it which is reciprocated in usual manner by the connectorsl2 attached to the top shaft i3 of the loom. The lay is provided with ashuttle box it to receive the various shuttles used in theloom. In thepresent instance the loom is illustrated as adaptable for use with twoshuttles, one of which is shown at S. The shuttles are picked back andforth across the loom by mechanism not shown and arrive periodically inthe box i i under a magazine M which in the present instance is providedwith front and back stacks of reserve bobbins R and R, respectively.These bobbins have wound thereon wefts of distinctive characteristics,the bobbins R for instance being wound with fine yarn such as rayon,while the bobbins R are wound with coarse heavier yarn. The bobbins haveweft ends extending from them,

transfer of a bobbin from one or another of the groups in the magazineinto th corresponding shuttle when the latter is depleted and in box l4.During subsequent picking of the shuttle its weft end is held at athread holder designated generally at H to eifect partial threading ofthe shuttle, and on some subsequent pick of the loom this thread is cutat the selvage b-y mechanism not shown but well understood. The threadis then waste and should be removed from the loom.

In carrying my present invention into effect I provide meansfor leadingthe waste weft ends from the groups W and W to separate compartments 0'and C" in a thread accumulator A. The accumulator is mounted on abracket 2|! secured to the loomside and is formed as a box-likestructure indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 9. A bobbin can 2| rests on top ofthe accumulator in position to receive the outgoing or exhausted bobbinsas they move downwardly from the depleted shuttle along the lay carriedbobbin chute 22.

The accumulator has inner and outer side walls 25 and, 26, respectively,front and back walls 2'! and 28, respectively, and has a top 29 and abottom 30. The front wall is provided with an aperture 3| normallyclosed by a door 32 which is preferably transparent and hinged at 33 tothe wall 21. This door may be located centrally of the front wall asindicated in Fig. 1, and can be raised to afford access to the threadswithin the accumulator compartments.

A vertical wall 35 extending between the'front' and back walls of theaccumulator divides the latter into the compartments C and C. This wallor partition has an aperture 36 which is covered by a screen 31 of suchmesh as will prevent threads from passing from one compartment to theother, but will afford pneumatic communication between the twocompartments. This wall extends forwardly and engages or at least liesvery close to the door when the latter is closed.

In order to'insure operation of the invention it is necessary tomaintain subatmospheric pressures within both compartments C and C, andin order to effect this result I provide a pipe 40 attached by a fitting4| to the back wall 28 of the accumulator. The fitting is so constructedthat it affords pneumatic communication between the interior of the pipeand compartment C. Pipe 40 is connected to any mechanism which willcreate subatmospheric pressures and during operation of the loom thereis a stream of air moving rearwardly either intermittently orcontinuously within pipe 40 in the direction of arrow (1,, Fig. 2.

. .The thread holder is constructed of front and back rigid tubes 45 and46, respectively,'the first of these tubes being connected by a fitting41 to the outer wall 26 of the accumulator. Fitting 41 is so constructedthat the interior of pipe or tube 45 is pneumatically connected tocompartment (3.. The fitting 41 is held to wall 26 by means of bolts 48tapped into wall 26 and passing through slots 49 which permit an angularadjustment of the fitting and therefore of the pipe45 with respect tothe accumulator A.

The bottom of the other pipe 46 is connected to a flexible tube 50 whichextends to a fitting 5| secured to the bottom of the accumulator.Fitting 5| is so constructed and located as to afford pneumaticcommunication between tube 50 and compartment C.

The two rigid pipes 45 and 46 are held together by clamp means shown indetail in Figs. 3 to 6. The lower clamp 55, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4,is formed of two plates 56 and 57 held together by bolts 58. A rib 59 oneach of the plates extends intothe space between the pipes 45 and 46 andthe latter are held together by tightening the bolts 58 as will beapparent from Figs. 3 and 4. This clamp can be slid along the pipes 45and 46 to any desired adjusted position and then tightened.

The upper clamp 60 is formed of top and bottom plates 6| and 62,respectively, held together by bolts 63, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.These two clamps and therefore afford means for clamping the pipes 45and 46 together so that they move in unison when an adjustment of pipe45 is made with respect to the accumulator. During this adjustment theflexible tube or hose 50 will bend sufiiciently to accommodate themovement of pipe 45. This adjustment may be necessary to locate thethread holder H correctly in the loom. 7

The pipes 45 and 46 have their upper ends open to provide intake mouthand 66, respectively, which face toward the center of the loom, or tothe left as viewed in Fig. l. Mouth 65 is intended for reception of theforward group of threads W, while the other mouth 66 receives the groupof threads W. During operation of the loom streams of air move into theintake mouths and in order to prevent the threads of each group frombeing drawn into the intake mouth corresponding to the other group Iprovide separator means shown particularly in Figs. 1, 5 and 6.

The separator means comprises a plate 10 of thin section and extendingvertically above and below the intake mouths and also extending inwardlytoward the magazine. This plate 10 may conveniently be formed as a partof the top clamp plate 6| and serves as a bafile to separate the twostreams of air which move into the intake mouths.

In order that the upper ends of the pipes 45 and 46 and plate 10 may beprevented from undue vibration I provide means for sup orting themrelatively to a fixed part of the loom. The magazine includes in itsconstruction a stud 15 mounted on a fixed stand 16 which is supported bythe loom frame. Stud 15 extends outwardly beyond the end of the magazineand has a collar 11 secured thereto by bolt 18. The collar may have apart thereof split to provide front and back arms 19 and 80,respectively, which receive the upper end of a brace 8| held to thecollar by bolt 78. Another bolt 82 secures the lower end of brace 8| tothe plate 10. The latter as well as the pipes 45 and 46 are thus heldagainst undue vibration during loom operation. When angular adjustmentsare made at the fitting 41 the brace 8| may be bent slightly or thecollar 11 released by loosening of bolt 18 to take a new setting, afterwhich the bolt 16 is tightened. It is to be understood that the bolt 18when tightened serves to clamp the collar 1'! on the stud l5.

In the operation of the loom, the two shuttles, only one of which isshown herein, enter the box |4 one at a time. These shuttles carry twodifferent kinds of weft, one of which may be fine, such as rayon, andthe other of which may be coarse, such as heavy cotton. When. a shuttlein box I4 is depleted it, will be replenished by abobbin drawn from thecorresponding magazine stack, In the present, instance it is assumedthat shuttle S will be replenished from the front stack having bobbins Rof fine Weft. When the other shuttle is replenished it will receive abobbin R wound with coarse weft and drawn from the rear stack of themagazine.

At some time subsequent to replenishment: the thread of the newlyinserted bobbin will be cut at the selvage and be drawn into theassociated intake mouth and drawn downwardly by sub.- atmospheric Ipressure into the corresponding compartment. Thus, the thread from.Shuttle 8 may be assumed to extend into the intake. mouth 65 and extenddown through pipe 45 through fit-. ting 41 into compartment C, Insimilar manne the thread from the other shuttle will enter intake mouth65' and pass down. pipe 46' and hose 50 and through the fitting 5i intothe; compartment C. It is to be understood that subatmbs ph r pressures.will e ist wi hin o h the. c mpartments C and C because of;- the screen3]. During this operation the door 32; is closed, but when a large massof threads accumulate within the compartments, the door is opened andthethreads removed. Since the different types; of threads have been led totheir respective com: partments the waste yarns are separated andtheprevious labor of manual separation is eliminated. It will be apparentfrom Fig. 1 that access to both of the compartments C and C." isafforded when the door 32 is opened.

When new bobbins are placed in the magazine their} weft ends will beheld manually in front of the corresponding intake mouth and be drawninto the latter, pneumatically. Duringthis; filling ofthe magazine theplate prevents the weft ends of the bobbins from entering the intakemouth.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided simple means forseparating the waste weft ends of a loom operating with two distinctivetypes ofweft. This separation is effected by means of two pneumatic;units eachhaving; a thread holder with an intake mouth and a threadcompartment for the corresponding type of thread. It will also be seenthat the plate '50 serves as a separator to; prevent the threads fromentering the wrong intake mouths, and that the separator is soconstructed that it; may cooperate with the brace 8! and also. the clamp60- to prevent vibration of the upper ends ofthe pipes 45 and 46.Furthermore, the adjustment of f t? ting 41 for changing the angularposition of pipe 45 with respect to the accumulator will be accom-.panied by a slight bending of the hose or flexible tube 5.0. It willalso. be noted; that the accumue lator is constructed-in such a mannerthat open-.- ing of the door 32 affords access to both of thecompartments. C and C. Also, the screen 31 on wall or partition 35prevents threads from passing from one compartment to. the other butaffords pneumatic communication between the compartments.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes. andmodifications may be made therein by those skilled in, the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do. not: wishto be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is;

1. In a weft replenishing loom having; two groups of weft threads, apair of pneumatic thread removers each having an intake mouth,

each of said intake mouths receiving one of; said group of threads, apair of hollow thread ac,- cumulators in each of which subatmosphericpressures exist, one accumulator for each of said removers, each intakemouth being pneumatie cally connected to the interior of thecorrespond-.

ing accumulator and having a stream of air moving thereinto, and aseparator between said mouths to prevent the stream of air moving intoeach mouth from attracting the threads cor-. responding to the othermouth.

2. In a weft replenishing loom having two groups of weft threads, athread holding, removing and accumulating unit ,for each group, eachunit having an intake mouth for the corresponding group pneumaticallyconnected to the interior of a hollow accumulator within whichsubatmospheric pressures exist, and a separator between said mouths toprevent the group COT-t responding to each mouth from moving into theother mouth.

3. In a weft replenishing loom having two groups of weft threads, athread holding, remove ing and accumulating unit for each group, eachunit having an intake mouth for the corresponch ing group pneumaticallyconnected to the interior of a hollow accumulator within whichsubatmospheric pressures exist, and means to. prevent the groupcorresponding to each mouth from moving into the other mouth.

4. In a weft replenishing loom having two groups of weft threads, athread holding, removing and accumulating unit for each group, each unithaving an intake mouth for the corresponding group pneumaticallyconnected to the interior of a hollow accumulator within whichsubatmospheric pressures exist, and means extending above and below andbetween said intake mouths to prevent the threads of each group frommoving into the intake mouth corresponding to the other group ofthreads.

5. In a weft replenishing mechanism having reserve bobbins from whichextend two groups of weft threads, a thread holding, removing andaccumulating unit for each group of threads, each. unit having an intakemouth receiving the threads of the corresponding group and communicatingpenumatically with the interior of a hollow thread accumulator withinwhich subatmospheric pressures exist, and means extending from saidmouths toward said reserve bobbins and separating said groups.

6. In a weft replenishing mechanism having reserve bobbins from whichextend two. groups of weft threads, a thread holding, removing andaccumulating unit for each group of threads, each unit having an intakemouth receiving the threads of the corresponding group and communicatingpneumatically with the interior of a hollow thread accumulator withinwhich subatmospheric pressures exist, and a separator for said groups ofthreads between said mouths extending toward said replenishing mechanismand preventing the threads of each group from entering the intake mouthcorresponding to the other group of threads.

7. In a weft replenishing mechanism having reserve bobbins from whichextend two groups of weft threads, a thread holding, removing andaccumulatingunit for each group of threads, each unit having an intakemouth threads of the corresponding group and communicating pneumaticallywith the interior of a hollow thread accumulator within whichsubatmospheric pressures. exist, said intake mouths receiving the beingclosely adjacent to each other, and a separator for said groups ofthreads extending from said mouths toward said replenishing mechanismand preventing the threads of each group from entering the mouthcorresponding to the other group.

8. In a weft replenishing mechanism having reserve bobbins from whichextend two groups of weft threads, a thread holding, removing andaccumulating unit for each group of threads, each unit comprising a tubecommunicating with the interior of a hollow thread accumulator withinwhich subatmospheric pressures exist and each tube having an intakemouth receiving the corresponding group of threads, a clamp holding theends of the tubes together adjacent to their intake mouths, and aseparator for said group connected to said clamp and extending betweensaid mouths and preventing the threads of each group from entering themouth corresponding to the other group of threads.

9. In a weft replenishing mechanism having reserve bobbins from whichextend two groups of weft threads, a thread holding, removing andaccumulating unit for each group of threads, each unit comprising a tubecommunicating with the interior of a hollow thread accumulator withinwhich subatmospheric pressures exist and each tube having an intakemouth receiving the corresponding group of threads, means connectingsaid tubes adjacent to the intake mouths thereof, and a separator forsaid groups supported by said means and extending between said mouthsand preventing the threads of each group from entering the mouthcorresponding to the other group.

10. In a weft replenishing mechanism having reserve bobbins from whichextend two groups of weft threads, a thread holding, removing andaccumulating unit for each group of threads, each unit comprising a tubecommunicating with the interior of a hollow thread accumulator withinwhich subatmospheric pressures exist and each tube having an intakemouth receiving the corresponding group of threads, means supported byand connecting said tubes and holding the intake mouths thereof closelyadjacent to each other, and a separator for said groups supported bysaid means and extending between said mouths and preventing the threadsof each group from entering the mouth corresponding to the other group.

11. In a weft replenishing 100m having two groups Of weft threads and athread accumulator formed with two thread compartments, a pair of rigidtubes connected at their upper ends and having intake mouths for saidthreads, one mouth for each group of threads, means connecting one ofsaid rigid tubes to said accumulator for angular adjustment relativelythere-to and providing pneumatic communication between said one tube andone of said thread compartments, and a flexible tube connecting theother rigid tube pneumatically with the other compartment.

12. In a weft replenishing loom having two groups of weft threads and athread accumulator formed with two thread compartments, a pair of rigidtubes connected at their upper ends and having intake mouths for saidthreads, one mouth for each group of threads, a fitting on saidaccumulator secured to and connecting one of said tubes pneumaticallywith one of said compartments, means to hold said fitting and one tubein adjusted angular position relatively to said accumulator, and aflexible tube connecting the other rigid tube pneumatically with theother of said compartments.

13. In a weft replenishing loom having two groups of Weit'threads and athread accumulator formed with two thread compartments, a pair of rigidtubes connected at their upper ends and having intake mouths for saidthreads, one mouth for each group of threads, a fitting on saidaccumulator secured to and connecting one of said tubes pneumaticallywith one of said compartments, means to hold said fitting and one tubein adjusted angular position relatively to said accumulator, a secondfitting on said accumulatoradjacent to the other compartment, and aflexible tube connecting the other rigid tube to said second fitting,the latter and said flexible tube connecting said other rigid tubepneumatically with said other compartment.

14.-In a thread accumulator for a weft replenishing loom having twogroups of weft ends and a pneumatic thread holder and remover unit foreach group, means connected to the accumulator through whichsubatrnospheric pressures are created within the accumulator, apartition in said accumulator forming two thread compartments therein,means in said partition preventing threads from passing from onecompartment to the other compartment but establishing pneumaticconnection between said compartments, and means connecting eachcompartment pneumatically with one Of said units.

15. A weft replenishing loom waste thread accumulator having two threadcompartments connected by means preventing threads from. passing fromone compartment to the other compartment but pneumatically connectingsaid compartments, each compartment having a thread inlet, and theaccumulator having means through which subatmospheric pressures may becreated within said compartments;

16. In a thread accumulator for a weft replenishing loom, a hollowstructure having a front wall provided with an aperture, a partitionwithin said structure dividing the accumulator into two threadcompartments, said partition extending across said aperture, a threadinlet for each compartment, means through which subatmospheric pressuresmay be created within said compartments, and a door normally closingsaid aperture but when open affording access to both of saidcompartments.

17. In a thread accumulator for a weft replenishing loom, a hollowstructure having a front wall provided with an aperture, a partitionwithin said structure dividing the accumulator into two threadcompartments, and located to aiTord access through said aperture to bothof said compartments, a thread inlet for each compartment, and a doornormally closing said aperture and when open affording access. to bothcompartments through said aperture.

18. In a thread accumulator to collect separately the threads from twogroups of threads in a weft replenishing loom, a pneumatic thread holderand remover unit for each group of threads, means comprising two threadaccumulating compartments, one compartment for each unit, meanspneumaticallyconnecting each unit with the corresponding compartment,and means pneumatically connected to both of said compartments to createsubatmospheric pressures therein.

RICHARD G. TURNER.

